| 19 January 2010 The head of the Moldovan parliamentary commission for foreign policy and European integration, Igor Corman, participated in a meeting of the Eastern Partnership at the European Parliament in Brussels on 14 January. The event focused on the future format of the parliamentary dimension of the Eastern Partnership. The working group that attended the meeting included heads of the relevant parliamentary commissions from the six states party to the Eastern Partnership: Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, from five EU member states: Great Britain, Spain, Sweden, Poland and Lithuania, as well as representatives of the European Parliament. The participants of the meeting agreed that the Eastern Partnership would develop on two main lines: the EU Parliamentary Assembly-Eastern Partnership (EURONEST-PA) made up of MEPs and MPs of the partner states and a forum of discussions comprising COFACC members and their counterparts from the Eastern Partnership countries who will meet twice a year. The Parliamentary Assembly will include 120 parliamentarians. The European Parliament will delegate 60 representatives and the partner states 10 MPs each. The body will have two co-chairpersons and 10 deputy heads and will meet once a year. The inauguration meeting is due in March 2010. The Parliamentary Assembly will adopt resolutions and recommendations meant for the EU-Eastern Partnership summit and will work out reports and put forward proposals concerning the functioning of the Partnership. In Brussels, Igor Corman met representatives of the European Parliament, parliamentary groups, the European Parliament's commission for external affairs and the EU-Moldova cooperation committee, as well as journalists. The meetings were focused on relations between Moldova and the EU, with the officials welcoming the recent launch of negotiations on an association agreement between the two sides, which targets two priorities: the creation of a free trade zone and the liberalization of the visa regime. The officials also agreed on the need to promote Moldova's image within the European Parliament more intensely and to create a positive political "lobby" in Moldova's favour. The sides discussed aspects related to a meeting of the EU-Moldova parliamentary cooperation committee due in Chisinau on 15-17 February and agreed that European officials would participate in various conferences held in Chisinau and Brussels in 2010 with the support of the foundation Friedrich Ebert.
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